Hoosiers optimistic -- again

Six offense players, four defenders and one head coach showed up for IU football media day last week. \nOne could argue the 11 flashed more grins, showed more teeth and cracked more jokes than any other team attempting to bounce back from a disappointing 3-8 season and four consecutive campaigns of less than four wins. \nBut optimism isn't hard to come by around IU's camp. And while expectations hinge on whether or not Tommy Jones can step in at quarterback, how well the defense can stop opposing attacks and how dangerous Antwaan Randle El will be at receiver, Cameron insists the door to a winning season can easily be flung open. \n"This is the best leadership we've had," Cameron said a day before his troops departed for training camp in Marshall, Ind. "We're close. We're piecing things together."\nRandle El provides the largest piece. After three years slicing and dicing opposing defenses, the nimble senior plans to split time between receiver and quarterback. He'll start at receiver, an area where IU lost its top two pass-catchers and has but a tiny amount of receptions to its credit. L.J. Parker and Henry Frazier are listed as the Hoosiers' No. 2 and 3 receivers, respectively, with Randle El at No. 1. Parker caught two passes a year ago. Frazier hauled in four. \nRandle El didn't catch a pass, but did rush for 1,270 yards and throw for 1,783 more, accounting for 23 touchdowns. \nBoth Jones, who played in seven games and threw only 16 passes last season, and Randle El say the situation has sealed the bond between the two, not severed it. \n"He's shown he wants to lead," Randle El said of Jones. "Sometimes I have to pull back, step back and let him lead. But (the position switch) has brought us closer."\nRandle El and Cameron say they've enlisted their faith in Jones, a junior, whose completed 10 of 25 passes for 134 yards as a Hoosier. Jones lacks experience, but teammates don't seem to mind. \n"He's 'Cool Tommy,'" junior guard Enoch DeMar said. "He's calm, but we know he's intense. We trust our coaches."\nFellow lineman A.C. Myler agrees. \n"We'll block for whoever takes the snap," Myler said. \nJones and/or Randle El will hand off to a game-tested backfield. Senior Levron Williams, junior Jeremi Johnson and sophomore Brian Lewis each played in 10 or more games and led an IU running attack that averaged more yards per carry -- 5.8 -- than every other team in the nation except Nebraska. \nThat efficiency can be credited to shifty running backs and an offensive line that will return DeMar, Myler and senior center Craig Osika. Junior Jemarkus Gorman and sophomore Anthony Oakley saw action last season, and sophomore Colin Christopher is expected to play after a knee injury sidelined him in 2000.\nCameron admits Randle El will likely see some time at quarterback, but said he had the same plan -- moving Randle El to receiver and allowing Jones to play quarterback -- last season before Jones was injured in training camp. Cameron informed Jones in January he'd have another shot. \n"It's my opportunity to play," Jones said. "Antwaan's helped me out, and it was a big choice for him to return (and not enter the NFL draft). He wants to win. Nights are a little easier with him at receiver. He can catch anything."\nRandle El can catch pass after pass, but the victories he desires still won't unfold unless IU's defense, which allowed more than 38 points per game in 2000, improves. \nRandle El is the first to compliment what he's seen from the 2001 edition. And he's the first to downplay the play of the 2000 Hoosiers.\n"We got some knuckleheads off the defense that hurt us," Randle El said. "I say that, and I mean it."\nIU lost three defensive starters, returning three linemen, two linebackers and three defensive backs. Seniors Justin Smith, Kemp Rasmussen, Sharrod Wallace and Devin Schaffer all have more than 21 career starts and return to anchor a defense that is bent on an about face. \n"We had some knuckleheads," Schaffer said, reacting to Randle El's comment. "We realize how good we are. We have the right outlook."\nSmith, a 2000 and 2001 Butkus Award candidate, and Shaffer are expected to spearhead a linebacking corps thin on experience. Cameron said he expects sophomore Brandonn Baker, redshirt freshman Herana-Daze Jones or sophomore Robert Brown to emerge as the third linebacker. \nJunior college transfers Willie Northern and Antonio Watson, juniors Ron Bethel and Joe Gonzalez and sophomore Duane Stone are all penciled in to see time in the defensive backfield.\nRasmussen will have help up front from fellow senior Dominique Smith, junior Derek Barnett and junior Sean Nelson, who returned from an injury-riddle 2000 season. \nWhoever plays must help a defense that yielded 186 rushing and 270 passing yards per contest. IU allowed 30 or more point in nine of its 11 games and twice allowed more than 50 in defensive coordinator James Bell's first season since migrating to Bloomington from Wake Forest. Schaffer said a year of bumps and bruises -- on the field and on the scoreboard -- could make a big difference. Schaffer said Bell, who let mistakes slip by last year, has adjusted the learning curve and become a more hard-nosed coach. \n"Expectations are up, and we have a major responsibility to get it done," Shaffer said. "We're tired of the same old thing."\nThe "same old thing" is last-minute losses, untapped bowl hopes and never-ending frustration. \n"We expect more," Myler said. "This is the most experienced team we've had, and we're not going to let things slide"